


Hello

by Kimmy



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Coda, Episode: s02e12 You Are Not Your Own, Happy Ending, M/M, Sappy, it doesnt fit ALL sneak peeks, of course its sappy its written by me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-11
Updated: 2017-06-11
Packaged: 2018-11-12 22:12:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11171133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kimmy/pseuds/Kimmy
Summary: Who is the Shadowhunter in the warlock's flat? What is he doing there and what is he talking about?Or: Valentine is confused and Alec is a smart cookie.





	Hello

**Author's Note:**

> This is 2x12 coda but it doesn't fit into the canon well enough I would even pretend the show will be anything similar. It's self indulgent speculation steaming from people on Twitter making me realise Valentine doesn't know Malec are together and my own realisation Valentine has no idea how to control Magnus' magic. Have fun reading.

 

“Magnus? You there?” 

 

Frankly, Alec felt strange, knocking at Magnus’ door instead of just going in but his boyfriend had been acting strange since the whole mess with Azazel started and Alec didn’t want to overstep. Maybe Magnus just needed time.

 

“Hello.”

 

The look on his face suggested Magnus probably really did need time. But Alec couldn’t for the world figure out why he thought he needed to do this alone.

 

“What’s going on?”

 

“Nothing. Why?”

 

Really, Alec thought at this point in their relationship they had enough trust between them to be able to lean on each other when things went wrong.

 

“It’s just… You were acting strange on the phone just now. Terse.”

 

“I told you, I’m busy.”

 

It just wasn’t like the Magnus he knew to brush Alec away with such an obvious lie. 

 

“Right, it’s just…” Not giving up, Alec stepped further into the loft, wondering what the hell was going on. “You never refused to help me when I need it, I just... “ Alec trailed off, put off by how distracted Magnus was and trying to catch his attention. “Magnus!” Finally, he got the man to look at him. “What’s wrong? Listen, how about we go out?”

 

Magnus’ whole demeanor suddenly changed as if he finally caught up with himself.

 

“On a mission? You need your pet warlock for something again?”

 

“What? No!” Alec had no idea what was going on. “Just, out, for dinner or a walk. To talk, to relax?”

 

“You? A shadowhunter? With a warlock?”

 

_ No, with my boyfriend. _ Alec had an urge to add, but didn’t, because Magnus was behaving like he didn’t even know they were together and something really,  _ really _ wrong was going on, so he chose to stay silent.

 

It was only then that he realised something was off.

 

Magnus’ cat eyes were on display, and Magnus never, ever took his glamour off, even after Alec told him he was comfortable with it.

 

Something was wrong.

 

“I.. It’s okay. I’m just going to leave you to your work. See you soon, I guess.”

 

Something was was very,  _ very _ wrong.

 

***

 

Magnus realised what was going on quickly. And he really, really didn’t like it.

 

The first reaction was panic. Call for help. But who would listen to a psycho criminal call for help?

 

Tied to a chair and repeatedly asked questions he didn’t know the answers to, as much as he would want to answer them, Magnus felt trapped like he never had before. As rune after rune was burned onto his skin to prolong the torture, Magnus felt pain worse than the burn of a stele on his downworlder skin. As seconds passed Magnus found himself scared as much as he only ever was once in his life.

 

And he hoped he could get out of it this time without dying, but also without killing anyone.

 

“I’m… I don’t know anything, Imogen.”

 

He felt weak, terrified and unsure.

 

“Cut the bullshit, Valentine.”

 

He had no idea why he didn’t want to say it. He knew maybe he should.

 

“I’m not Valentine, Imogen.”

 

He felt something crack inside him as she moved the hand she held her stele in.

 

“I’m not Valentine, Imogen, I’m Magnus; please, you have to believe me.”

 

He tried to move back in the chair but there was no escape. He tried to think of something,  _ anything _ that could make her believe him, that only Magnus Bane would know about Imogen Herondale, but fear made it impossible for him to focus.

 

She touched the sleek piece of adamas to a still unfaded line on his skin and he screamed.

 

***

 

“He seriously thinks it’s gonna work? What? Pretending to be a random warlock? They’re killing him anyway, nothing will save him now.”

 

Alec stopped in front of Jace, the words echoing in his head.

 

“What did they mean? I just heard someone say Valentine claims to be Magnus.”

 

Jace looked up at Alec with concern in his eyes.

 

“Yes, Alec, but… This is Valentine. He’s always planning his next move. You do not wanna fall for his lies.”

 

Something in Alec snapped.

 

“Don’t tell me what to do, Jace. I just saw Magnus and he wasn’t himself. You don’t want to dismiss what Valentine has to say because if there’s even a chance it’s true you have a madman on the run with a warlock’s magic at his disposal. Let me handle it.”

 

He left his speechless parabatai behind, going down to the cells.

 

Whatever was going on, Alec was going to find out.

 

***

 

Magnus cried. Gave in to the panic, struggled, shouted out for help as he felt blood on his wrists.

 

He kept begging for someone to believe him, kept sobbing and repeating his name as they activated the rune over and over again.

 

Kept crying out for Alec.

 

“I’m Magnus…” He choked on his own blood, feeling hopeless, unsure of his own future. “I’m Magnus Bane…”

 

“Gag him.”

 

He felt his whole body tense, looked up, barely able to move but so afraid of having his words taken away, of having any chance of convincing them stolen from him.

 

He struggled, cried, but a strong hand grabbed his face and a piece of cloth was tied around his head too tightly, cutting his screams.

 

He felt himself choke on words he couldn't get out, felt his heart threaten to burst out of his chest as panic overwhelmed him.

 

“My son is dead because of you. Prepare him for execution.”

 

The whole world seemed to fall apart as he closed his eyes, realisation playing like a silent film in his brain.

 

_ My son. Stephen.  _

 

He knew what to  _ say _ to Imogen to make her believe him.

 

He was  _ gagged _ .

 

He was about to die.

 

The door to the cell burst open as Alec strode into the cell, making Magnus’ heart skip. Did he dare hope? Or would he die at the hand of the love of his life? Seeing the man who stole his heart come forward with confidence radiating of him, Magnus couldn’t help but let it sink in that even if he was about to die, he knew Alec was  _ the one _ .

 

“Stop the execution.” Alec didn’t look at Magnus but Magnus felt himself shiver in relief and hope, tears falling down his cheeks. “Go on and guard the door, no one’s getting out of here but as the Head of The Institute I still have something to say.” He didn’t ask anyone, just strode over to Magnus and untied his wrists and ankles. He was gentle as he took off the gag and Magnus felt a sob escape as he didn’t even think before throwing himself into Alec’s arms.

 

He just needed to feel him close, no matter if it would be the last time or just one of many. 

 

Alec would save him or see him go, but Alec was  _ here _ .

 

“Alexander. My Alexander.”

 

Alec held him, whispering words of comfort until Magnus calmed down a bit, and then he pulled away just enough so they could look at each other.

 

“I just… I need to make sure, I’m sorry.”

 

“Ask me. Ask me anything.”

 

“Did you like the lucky rabbit foot charm I got you in Tokyo?”

 

Magnus’ eyes went so wide Alec already knew the answer.

 

“What the  _ hell _ , Alexander!? You only ever gave me an omamori and that better be it, because if you got me something as hideous as a rabbit foot charm, we’re breaking up, Alec, there’s only so much bad fashion I can accept.”

 

The serious expression on Magnus’ face, even with Valentine’s look, in connection with the absolute bullshit they both know his words were has Alec suddenly burst into loud, sincere laughter, joyful like he hasn’t laughed in awhile. Since their date in Tokyo, actually.

 

“I… It’s really you.”

 

He doesn’t care about what body Magnus is in, he leans in to kiss his boyfriend and it’s a sweetest kiss in its own way, so unlike any other but with so much behind it. It’s short, but chaste, because it’s symbolic. It says everything that needs to be said and cements something between them.

 

“We need to reverse the spell. I miss my nail polish.”

 

And yet again, Alec finds himself laughing. No matter what he looks like, Magnus is Magnus.

 

***

 

“So… How are we going to reverse that?”

 

Alec could see Magnus’ face fall as he realised it was not over yet. They needed to switch them back somehow.

 

“Excuse me, gentlemen, but if you could explain to me what is going on here?”

 

As they realised Imogen was still in the room Alec rushed to explain, conveniently not mentioning the bits about summoning Azazel that led them into this situation in the first place.

 

Imogen looked sceptic but not entirely unwilling to believe it. Clearly she too could see something was wrong with “Valentine”. 

 

“What do you have to prove it to me? Besides some inside information between the two of you that I cannot be sure is reliable.”

 

Magnus stood up at that and Alec’s confusion turned into relief as he went to Imogen and whispered something in her ear that had her whole expression change. She clearly believed them now and could see as well as them they needed to deal with the madman on the run.

 

“I assume you magic is stuck in your body with Valentine controlling it?”

 

“Unfortunately.” It did pose a problem to have Magnus incapable of performing the reversal spell.

 

“What about Catarina? Would she be able to do it if we knock Valentine out so he couldn’t interfere with it?”

 

Magnus looked as if he considered for a moment.

 

“She should be. It’s a powerful spell but one going against nature’s order. All you really have to do is push our souls to return to their right places themselves. If Valentine was unconscious, Cat should be able to do it easily.”

 

“Good. Then let’s get going. The faster we can imprison Valentine again, the better.”

 

Alec moved to the exit but Magnus stopped him.

 

“Before we go… And I assume that includes you, Imogen?” The glare was all the answer he needed, Imogen would not be letting them out of her sight. “I would like to inquire  _ how _ exactly do you plan to knock Valentine out. Because to be frank, I would rather you refrained from blunt damaging force when we’re talking about my body here.”

 

It was only then that Alec seemed to realise the implications of the swap back.

 

“You’re right. We’ll also need to restrain you so Valentine doesn't get to run away when he’s back in his body. And we can use chloroform to knock him out. Izzy should have some.”

 

Magnus looked vaguely alarmed as to why would Izzy have chloroform, but he decided it wasn’t  _ that  _ weird since she was a pathologist, and chose to follow Alec and Imogen without a word.

 

***

 

“I’m going to go in alone since I’ve already been here, Valentine won’t be too surprised if he finds me. Wait in front of the door, and when I call you in, only you two go in. Imogen, leave your squad out at the door.”

 

He wasn’t sure why, but Alec felt uncomfortable having too many people in Magnus’ loft. At  _ home _ .

 

He didn’t knock, just went in silently, hoping he could surprise Valentine. But when he entered, he heard more voices coming from the living room.

 

“I don’t bargain with demons.”

 

He felt his blood run cold as he realised it was Azazel in the loft with Valentine, wondering how the demon even got in. But without Magnus controlling his magic, the wards must have weakened. He looked into the living room to see Azazel disappear and took his chance as Valentine turned away from him.

 

He used a cloth soaked in chloroform to knock him out and gently lowered the body that rightfully belonged to his boyfriend into the armchair. He threw the cloth away and went to open the door to let Magnus and Imogen in. 

 

His boyfriend looked visibly more comfortable on home ground but he stopped abruptly when he saw Valentine in his body unconscious in the armchair, an unreadable expression on his face.

 

“Do I really look like that, Alexander?”

 

Alec’s eyes widened as the implications of the sentence sunk in. Magnus had a mirror, clearly he knew he was gorgeous. Didn’t he?

 

Alec gave his boyfriend an unimpressed stare.

 

“The moment you’re back in your body I’m gonna smooch some self-esteem into you.”

 

Magnus actually  _ blushed and spluttered _ at that, choosing to hide himself in the kitchen and make tea for everyone while they waited for Cat. Imogen, who had stood to the side and watched the scene with interest for now, wondered briefly how weird the expression looked on Valentine’s face.

 

Wondered if he was like that once, when he was younger and in love with Jocelyn.

 

Soon Magnus returned with four mugs of tea and poured a shot of vodka into his. He knew he would need both something warm and some alcohol. 

 

It didn’t take long before Catarina joined them, having taken a portal straight into the living room. Alec greeted her with a kiss on the cheek and Magnus just settled on a quiet “Hello”, awkward with the situation.

 

“Just… Let’s get this over with.” Magnus stood still and tried to calm his racing heart as he allowed Alec to restrain him. His boyfriend was firm, tying his hands behind his back tightly, without a chance of getting out, but gently. He was making sure to trap Valentine’s body, but not hurt Magnus while he was in it. He took a piece of cloth and gagged Magnus after that, looking him in the eyes and sending a reassuring smile before moving to stand next to Imogen, a bit behind Cat.

 

He looked at his oldest friend left alive and let himself get lost in the steady hum of chanting.

 

It would all go smoothly. It had to.

 

***

 

“Take this.” Alec didn’t care, just pushed the disoriented and struggling Valentine in Imogen’s direction, ignoring her raised eyebrow as she took him and led him out of the loft, and went to kneel next to a still unconscious Magnus.

 

It worked.

 

“Cat, can you wake him up?” He looked at the blue skinned warlock with pleading eyes and she kneeled next to him, sending him a reassuring smile as she placed her hand on top of Magnus’ forehead.

 

“Stop panicking, Alec.”

 

Alec looked on as Magnus’ eyelids fluttered open and as their eyes met, he felt a tear roll down his cheek. Magnus threw himself into his arms and they shared a kiss, messy and passionate, before burying themselves in each other’s embrace.

 

“Thank you, Cat. Thank you so much.” Magnus turned to his friend as they finally pulled away.

 

“It’s not a problem, Magnus. I’m used to cleaning up your messes.” She gave him a glare that made the warlock blush. “Care to tell me how you ended up in this particular one?”

 

“I would love to. But I need some more spiked tea first. And for Alexander to cuddle me.”

 

They spent the evening like that, drinking hot alcohol and talking about everything they missed since they last saw each other. By the time Cat went home, it was long past midnight and Magnus had started yawning.

 

“Come on, Mags. Let’s take a bath and go to sleep.”

 

Magnus hummed.

 

“Yeah, a bath sounds nice.”

 

*** 

 

Later, as they lay in bed and slowly drift off to sleep, Alec turns around in Magnus’ arms to face him and whispers, not breaking eye contact and seeing love burning in Magnus’ golden cat eyes, on display per Alec’s request.

 

“I love you, Magnus. I love you so much and I will always love you. Even if you were stuck in Valentine’s body for eternity. Even if you die tomorrow, or live centuries after I’m gone. I love you and I will always love you. I will love you till the end of my days and after that too.”

 

He kisses Magnus’ cheek where a single tear rolls down and holds his warlock close, allowing them to finally drift off.

 

It’s not over yet. 

 

Azazel will need to be caught and the Mortal Instruments to be found.

 

Magnus will wake up during the night, have nightmares semi-regularly for weeks and flinch at the sight of a stele, the memory of torture still fresh in his mind, but it’s over for now. Whatever comes next, they can take, because they have each other. 

**Author's Note:**

> Comments make the world go round.  
> ALSO IM NOT READY FOR HARRY AND ALAN AND WILL AND ALBERTO AND EMERAUDE, IM NOT READY FOR TUESDAY, HELP


End file.
